


Stacks

by madameofmusic



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Library AU, M/M, Tumblr Prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 10:02:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6700471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madameofmusic/pseuds/madameofmusic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a Dex/Nursey library AU. </p><p>Dex finds Nursey asleep in a study cubicle, and it spirals down from there. Inspired by: <a href="http://quoth-the-ravenclaw.tumblr.com/post/134385821929/library-aus-based-off-my-experiences-working-in-a">[x]</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Stacks

**Author's Note:**

> I found the prompts [ here.](http://quoth-the-ravenclaw.tumblr.com/post/134385821929/library-aus-based-off-my-experiences-working-in-a)

William Poindexter was not paid enough for this shit.

“Dude.” He poked the guy again, tugged at the books the guy was fast asleep on top of, and sighed. The guy was dead to the world, firmly planted on a pile of textbooks a foot high, and looked like he’d been that way for a while, and Dex wanted to go _home_ , goddammit.

The guy mumbled, and burrowed deeper into his elbow. Dex thought he could see the guy’s drool on the books, and that was the final straw. No one, no one, drooled on the library books, no matter how cute they might have been.

“What the fuck,” Dex whispered to himself, deciding that his stray thoughts about the look of this guy were due to tiredness, and shoving them firmly into the box in his head most likely labeled “Never to think of again, ever.”

He rolled up his sleeves, and grabbed on to the biggest book in the stack, and pulled. With a muffled thump, the books toppled over, taking the guy on top with them, waking him up just like Dex intended.

“Wh-” The guy said, sitting bolt upright and looking at the stack of books in front of him with utter betrayal. Dex heard the guy mutter chill at them.

“Dude.” The guy’s head whipped around until he was facing Dex, and the motion almost off-balanced him, his hand that gripped the edge of the table the only thing keeping him from falling out of his chair.

“Who are you?” The guy said, squinting at Dex suspiciously.

“Will, assistant librarian, and not paid enough for this. Get up, we’re _closed_.” He practically spat the last word out, meeting the guy’s squint with a hard glare, customer service rules be damned.

The guy stood, sighing. “Damn.” He mumbled, and began pushing the books into a pile. “What time is it?”

“1 AM.” Dex responded sharply, arms folded across his chest. He looked the guy up and down, and smothered any thoughts about how nice he looked, even with a wrinkled shirt, slightly untucked from his pants, and one half of his hair matted to his face.

“Dammit.” The guy said again, and picked up the stack of books. “I’m gonna miss my deadline.” He mumbled, pushing the chair of the study cubicle back in and side-stepping past Dex.

Dex turned just as the guy dumped his entire stack onto the to-be-reshelved cart, and just barely held back his frustrated sigh. He wasn’t allowed to leave any carts anything but completely empty, and thanks to this asshat, now he wouldn’t be able to leave yet.

“G’night.” The guy said as Dex began picking up the books one by one, groaning as he realised they were from all over the library.

He muttered darkly at the guy’s retreating figure, and then set to doing his job with a resolution to glare at the guy really, _really_ hard the next time he saw him.

 

 

Of course, the next time he saw the guy wasn’t more than a week later, though this time it was a decently timed five PM, and Dex had just started his shift. He hadn’t even had the time to put his _damn_ name tag on yet, much less get ready to deal with whoever was arguing with one of the pages.

“-please, I really need it-”

“Look, dude, I can’t help you if you don’t-”

Dex heard the conversation before he saw him, and his curiosity drew him towards the sound. The guy was leaning on the circulation desk, looking frantic. His hair looked like he’d been running his fingers through it, and the look on his face almost made Dex pity him.

He was arguing with one of the pages, who looked almost as frustrated as the guy did.

He watched for a few moments as the men went back-and-forth, and then stepped in. “Can I help you?”

The guy looked over at him, and near immediately the frustration in his eyes dissipated, replaced by recognition, and hope. “I sure hope so.”

The page tried to say something, but Dex just looked at him, and jerked his head towards the stacks. I’ve got this, the gesture said, and the page flashed him a grateful look before he sped away.

“So, what can I do?” Dex asked, arching one eyebrow at the man, who’s franticness had started seeping back into his posture while Dex had turned away.

“I need a textbook.”

Dex pulled up the directory, and nodded. “Okay. What’s its name?”

The man went quiet, and Dex looked up at him. He looked sheepish as he rubbed at the back of his neck. “Uh, it has a blue cover? With some like, colorful lines and shit on it?”

Dex understood why the page had looked so frustrated. “Do you know the author?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

“Um, no.” The guy said, teeth scraping over his bottom lip as he looked at Dex.

“The publisher?”

“No?”

“The subject?”

“Uh, it's either under philosophy, politics, or literature.” Dex felt like banging his head against the desk.

“Do you know fu- do you know the ISBN number?”

The guy smirked, and opened his mouth as if to comment on Dex’s almost-cuss word, and then thought better of it by the look on Dex’s face, and snapped his jaw shut. He shook his head, and shrugged again.

“I can’t help you then.” Dex said, and clicked out of the directory.

“No, please! The paper is due at midnight, and I lost the criteria sheet with the title on it. You gotta help me man.” The man pleaded, flashing Dex his most pitiful look.

Dex sighed. “It’s due at midnight? And you’re just now starting?”

The man tilted his head to the side, carefully avoiding Dex’s look. “Uh, yeah.”

Dex sighed, and stepped back from the desk. “Give me a second.”

The guy nodded, and Dex left him at the circulation desk. There was a slim chance, but he had an idea. He wandered behind the desk, and ducked down to flip through binder after binder. There was a binder specifically for textbook check-outs, something the library used to judge the usefulness of the books on hand, and whether or not they needed to keep them. Considering how the guy’s paper was due that night, Dex would bet at least one other person had checked out the same book.

However, it was rarely updated (he himself only remembered to mark in it every fourth time or so). He finally found it amidst the other identical white binders, and pulled it out.

He returned to the desk, and the man was still there, tapping a nervous beat on the counter. “Did you find it?”

Dex withheld himself from the urge to roll his eyes, and shook his head. “No. But do you think if I read off the name, you could recognize it?”

The man nodded vigorously. “Probably.” He said, the hopeful looks back in his eyes.

Dex opened the binder, and sighed. There was only ten or so titles from that day. He began reading them off, and made it all way to the ninth title before the guy stopped him.

“That one!” He said, slapping his open palms against the table. “That’s the one!”

Dex snapped the binder shut, and typed the title into the catalog. “You’re in luck.” He said, and turned the monitor towards the man. “The book’s here. Someone has it for the next half an hour, but then it’s all free.” He said, twisting the monitor back around and picking up the binder.

“You only have one copy?” The man asked, frowning. “What if someone else checks it out before me?”

“Do you have a student ID?” He asked, and accepted the proffered card from the guy a few moments later. Derek Nurse, the card said.

“My friends call me Nursey.” He said, and Dex looked at him blankly.

“Neat.” He said, typing Derek’s information into the computer, and then slid the card back across the counter. “You’re next on the reservation list. Come back in thirty minutes, and it’ll be yours for two hours.” He said, and then stepped back from the counter.

“Try not to harass anymore pages.” Dex said, walking towards the back once more.

“Thanks Will!” He heard the guy yell.

 _Huh_ , Dex thought, slipping into the office he shared with another assistant librarian and shutting the door behind him. _He remembered my name_.

 

 

Derek - or Nursey, as he insisted Dex call him, which prompted Dex to give Nursey his own nickname - had started hanging out at the library more over the following month. He claimed it was because he needed to do research, but Dex wasn’t stupid.

The way Nursey had started to look at him scared Dex a little. Dex wasn’t really a relationship person, considering the last relationship he’d had was when he was a freshman in highschool.

Nursey looked at him like Dex had just hung the moon and dedicated it to him. Scary.

As it turns out, the look got worse the drunker Nursey became.

He found Nursey in the children’s area, flipping intently through _The Hungry Little Caterpillar_ , eyebrows furrowed as he dragged one finger under the words. Dex could see him silently mouthing them to himself.

Grinning, he walked over, and crouched in front of Nursey. “Hey, dude. We’re closing.”

Nursey’s head snapped up, and grinned back, giving Dex a much dopier version of the look he normally gave him. Dex couldn’t decide if that made it more or less scary. “Dex! Buddy!” He said, and closed the book with a snap. He placed it carefully into the basket of children’s books, and stood.

And then promptly fell over.

Dex didn’t feel all that bad for laughing once he was sure Nursey was fine. “Nurse, are you drunk?”

Nursey nodded, loose, happy grin still on his face. “Yep.” He said, popping the “P”. “Are you drunk?”

Dex snorted. “No, I’m at work dummy.” He stood, and offered Nursey his hand. “C’mon let’s get you home.” He said, pulling Nursey to his feet. The man stood, and swayed. Dex wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

They began walking to the front desk, and Dex called out his goodbyes to the staff left over, and then walked to the front door, practically dragging Nursey behind him.

“Where do you live?” Dex asked once they were in the parking lot. Dex was planning on driving him home, and then going home himself to finish some code, and then get some much-needed shut-eye.

Nursey frowned. “I can’t go there right now.” He said, lips pressed into a thin line. Before Dex could ask why, Nursey spoke up again. “My roommate’s girlfriend is over, and he told me to find somewhere else to be tonight. Except my other plans fell through? So I was just gonna go to the bar and hang out?”

Dex sighed, and opened the door to his pickup, helping Nursey up as the man continued to ramble. “-and then they kicked me out.” Nursey finished, right as Dex climbed up into the driver’s side.

“So you don’t have anywhere to go?” He asked, looking over at Nursey.

“S’chill dude. I can like, take a nap in the park or whatever.” Nursey said, leaning against the side of Dex’s red pickup, and staring across the console at Dex.

Dex shook his head, mind already made up. Sure, he hardly knew Nursey, but he wasn’t gonna let the guy sleep on a park bench in the middle of October. No fucking way. “You can come over to mine.” Nursey opened his mouth to protest, and Dex drowned it out with the sound of his car starting up. “Don’t argue.”

Nursey sighed, and slumped down in his seat more. “Sorry.” He mumbled.

Dex reached across the way, and patted his shoulder awkwardly. “No worries.”

The rest of the ride to Dex’s small apartment was quiet, and for a brief moment right after they parked in front of the complex, Dex thought he might have fallen asleep.

“Hey, Nursey, c’mon wake up.” Dex said, nudging at Nursey.

Nursey looked over at him, still wide-awake, though a little less loopy-looking than before. “M’awake.”

Dex helped him out of the car, and then up the flight of steps to his front door. Nursey seemed more tired now, and his expression was drawn into tight lines. “You okay?”

Nursey nodded, and followed Dex through the door. He made a beeline for the couch, and flopped down on it. “Wait, Nurse-” Dex said, intending to give the man his bed, but he’d already curled up on the couch. Nurse grunted in response, and closed his eyes.

Dex stared at him for a few moments, and then sighed. He grabbed Nursey a glass of water, and a few painkillers, before retreating into his bedroom around the corner, making sure to leave the door open just in case Nurse needed anything.

 

 

He woke late the next morning to the sound of metal crashing to the ground. He bolted out of bed, and slid into the kitchen, coming face-to-face with Nursey. The night before came back in a rush, and he stared at Nurse for a few seconds, before croaking out, “What are you doing?”

Nursey looked much better than Dex had assumed he would, considering how drunk he’d been the night before. “Trying to make you breakfast as a thank you?” Nursey said, and bent over to pick up the pan he dropped.

Dex looked around his kitchen, seeing the last of his eggs cracked into a bowl, pieces of shell floating around in the mix. Nursey had a bit of shell in his hair, and flour streaked across his forehead. Dex started laughing, pressing his face into his hands as his shoulders shook. Derek looked ridiculous, dark circles rimming his eyes and covered in bits of breakfast food, and he was still unfairly attractive. Dex couldn’t even find it in himself to resist the thought, or hate the guy for still looking so damn good.

“Just-” He heaved out through peals of laughter. “Just give it up dude. We’ll go get breakfast somewhere,” he said, looking at Nursey and trying to smother manic giggles with his closed fist.

Nursey looked guilty, but also amused by Dex’s laughter. He set the pan in the sink, and wiped his hands off on a paper towel. “Yeah, okay. I’m not a very good cook, anyway.”

Dex snorted, turning around to go get real clothes on. “Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.”

Nursey made an indignant noise behind him, and Dex grinned at him over his shoulder as he shut his bedroom door behind him.

When he reemerged, the kitchen was more-or-less in the same state it had been the day before, and all remnants of egg and flour were gone from Nursey’s face.

“Sorry, again.” Nursey said as they made their way to the door.

“It’s no big deal, dude.” Dex said, and made note of that. Because it really _wasn’t_ , and honestly, if it had been anyone else, he probably wouldn’t have even taken them home and let them sleep on his couch, much less _not_ pitched a fit about them wasting the rest of his eggs.

“Hey, Dex?” Nursey said, once they were in Dex’s pickup.

“Mm?” Dex glancing over at Nursey as he backed out of the parking space.

“Thanks. It… meant a lot that you’d, uh, take me home and shit to make sure I didn’t sleep on a park bench.”

Dex shrugged. “Course. S’what friends are for.” He said, meeting Nursey’s eyes and smiling softly at him.

Nursey gave him another one of his looks, and suddenly it didn’t feel so scary. The look made his stomach twist, but in a good way. Nursey was a dork, a chronic procrastinator, and prone to falling asleep in libraries, but he seemed… fun, too, and smart, and exactly Dex’s type, if he were being honest with himself. It felt like an honest kind of morning.

Nursey nodded once, and then began talking about some class or another he was in, and a paper he’d had to write that week that was, in his words, “the biggest fucking waste of time, ever. Period.”

Dex laughed, and they continued talking all the way, to the small diner that, in Dex’s opinion, had the best breakfast food in town, and all through the subsequent meal and the drive to Nursey’s place, once Nursey’s roommate assured him he was fine to come home.

Nursey hopped out of the truck. Right before he shut the door, Dex stopped him. “Hey, wait.” Dex said, and Nursey pulled the back open.

“What’s up?”

“Give me your phone.” Dex said, taking the phone from a confused Nursey. He dialed in his number, and saved it to Nursey’s contact book. “Call me sometime. Maybe we can hang out, or something.” Dex said, suddenly much less confident than he had been moments previous.

Nursey’s sunny, hope-filled return smile, quelling any doubt he had about Nursey’s interest. “I will.” He said, and picketed the phone. “Thanks, again, really.”

Dex nodded. “Yeah. See you around?” He asked, and Nursey nodded once, before shutting the door behind him and walking up the walk to his own apartment.

Dex pulled out and began driving back, stifling his yawns. He’d been up late at work, and then up earlier this morning that he’d intended to be on his day off, and he was looking forward to taking a long nap as soon as he got home.

His phone rang not a minute after he dropped Nursey off. Dex huffed, lips curling into another smile, and pulled it out of his pocket. The called ID said “Unknown”, and he swept up on the answer button before pressing it to his ear. “Hello?”

“How’s dinner sound?” Nursey’s voice filtered through the small speaker, and Dex laughed softly.

“Dinner sounds great.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come prompt me on my [ tumblr.](http://whiskeytangofrogman.tumblr.com/)


End file.
